CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Dayton women's basketball team finished up the non-conference schedule and the Cavalier Classic Thursday with a 66-56 loss to host Virginia.

The Flyers (6-7) hung with the Cavaliers (11-2) for most the contest, but late free throws sealed Dayton's fate.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1^st Quarter – Dayton 17, Virginia 12
Dayton jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a layup by redshirt junior Alex Harris and free throws by senior Saicha Grant-Allen. Virginia got a couple of buckets in the paint to stay with the Flyers, but going into the media timeout, junior Jenna Burdette's six points had UD up 12-6. Midway through the first quarter, Dayton had an 8-1 rebound advantage. The Flyers got their lead to 15-7 with a smaller line-up out of the break amidst a two and a half minute scoring drought for the Cavaliers. Virginia got a couple of baskets in the final stages of the quarter, but UD still led by five.

2^nd Quarter – Dayton 29, Virginia 30
Virginia came out firing in the second quarter and narrowed it to a one-point game at 17-16. Before the halfway mark in the quarter, the Cavaliers took their first lead of the game, 20-19, after five unanswered points. Burdette responded with an old-fashioned three-point play to put Dayton back on top, 22-21 going into the media timeout. UD was up just one despite Virginia going 1-of-9 over a 2:04 span. The teams went on to trade leads back and forth the rest of the half with Virginia getting the final say and going into the break with the advantage.

3^rd Quarter – Dayton 45, Virginia 51
The Cavaliers pushed their lead to six at 40-34 before a big three by senior Kelley Austria closed the gap to three. Just 30 seconds later, a free throw and layup by Grant-Allen tied it up at 40-40. That was the score going into the media break amidst a 6-0 UD run. Out of the break, the Cavs went on another spurt and took a 45-42 lead. A couple of free throws later and Dayton found itself trailing 49-42. The Flyers went into the final quarter down six.

4^th Quarter – Dayton 56, Virginia 66
Just two minutes into the final period and Dayton faced a tough situation, losing by 12 at 57-45. The Flyers' first bucket came from Harris with 7:08 on the clock in the fourth. She followed that up with another tough shot over the 6'9" Felicia Aiyeotan from UVa to make it an eight-point game, forcing a Cavalier timeout with six minutes left in the quarter. The Cavs went into another drought for the next three minutes and the Flyers got back within five at 57-52. Unfortunately, the late shots did not fall for Dayton and the Flyers were forced to try and foul their way back into the game. UD was unable to catch UVa and fell 66-56.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dayton shot 41.2% from the floor, 25% from three-point range, and 64.3% from the free throw line. The Flyers allowed the Cavaliers to shot 41.5% overall.
• Burdette led UD with 13 points while Grant-Allen added 12 points and Austria chipped in 11 points.
• Layfield and Harris both tied for a team-high eight rebounds.
• UD managed to out-rebound Virginia, 35-31, but committed a season-high 22 turnovers.
• The Flyers had 14 second-chance points compared to the Cavs' seven.
• In the first half, Dayton shot 39.3% from the field while holding Virginia to 31.3% The difference in the opening 20 minutes was the 12-6 turnover differential in favor of the Cavaliers.
• There were seven lead changes and eight ties in the contest.
• UD led by as much as eight and trailed by as much as 12.
• Grant-Allen earned All-Tournament team honors for the second straight tournament while Layfield was named All-Tournament team for the first time this season.

KEY STAT

• 19 – Virginia hit 19 free throws compared to Dayton's nine. The Cavs went 19-of-24 from the charity stripe while the Flyers went 9-of-14.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers will return home and return to Atlantic 10 play as they host Massachusetts Saturday at 2 p.m. at UD Arena.